EUGENE \u2014 No. 5 Oregon defeated No. 12 seed James Madison 51-34 Saturday night at Autzen Stadium. <\/p>\n
Dan Lanning recapped the 12th win of the season for the Ducks (12-1), who advance to the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff to face No. 4 Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl.<\/p>\n
Below is a transcript of Lanning\u2019s postgame press conference.<\/p>\n
DAN LANNING<\/b><\/p>\n
The team realizes this is a growth moment for us, an opportunity to continue to improve and get better, but we\u2019re going to have to play better football to be able to reach our goals when it\u2019s all said and done. <\/p>\n
There\u2019s some moments that really showed up, obviously special teams with the blocked kick, blocked punt. There were some big plays there. But to not be able to come out and have the same success in the second half that we had in the first half is certainly disappointing and I think our players will certainly learn from that. <\/p>\n
Q. Focus on some of the positives in the first half, the offense was really clicking. What was Will doing? What were the players doing?<\/b> <\/p>\n
DAN LANNING: Yeah, I thought they had a great plan. Starting off, they had loaded boxes inside. We were able to get the ball in the perimeter. We were able to take shots where we thought we could win. We connected on a couple of those. I think we scored all five of the first five possessions but then obviously threw a pick in the last drive, right? Which isn\u2019t good. <\/p>\n
Q. Earlier in the week Tosh had talked about defense\u2019s goals with us to take away the opposing team\u2019s identity. You\u2019ve certainly done that at times. Do you feel there was any facet of their identity you guys took away tonight?<\/b> <\/p>\n
DAN LANNING: We didn\u2019t play well enough as a unit to do what we want to be able to do, and, again, the explosive plays there\u2019s probably a piece that really started. They had 13 third downs in the first half. We got to be able to get off the field on third down. I think our offense only had one in the first half and then in the second half they had a few more, but they did a much better job moving the ball on early downs. <\/p>\n
Q. Jeremiah McClellan, really successful today. How have you seen him evolve throughout the season. He had a really strong Washington game and then tonight, what makes him so successful?<\/b> <\/p>\n
DAN LANNING: He\u2019s been really consistent down the stretch, he\u2019s where he\u2019s supposed to be. He\u2019s making tough catches. I thought that other one was really close again today where they had the PI. But he\u2019s attacking the ball, right? And playing strong at the top of routes. He\u2019s playing some good football for us down the stretch. <\/p>\n
Q. One of the questions coming into this game is how you guys will deal with the rest, the layoff after last year. You said you had a different plan this year. How do you think you executed that and how that plan came to fruition?<\/b> <\/p>\n
DAN LANNING: I think we started off hot, like I said. Ultimately we could have been better defensively in the first half but able to hold them to field goal attempts instead of touchdowns there in the first was a positive, but the second half, as a team, we didn\u2019t play the way we need to be able to play. You got to find moments like that when you have a big lead to be able to choke somebody out and we didn\u2019t do that. <\/p>\n
Q. Dan, what would be the emotion you would use to describe how you feel right now? Is it upset? Disappointed? Or something else entirely?<\/b> <\/p>\n
DAN LANNING: I probably wouldn\u2019t describe it. <\/p>\n
Q. Feels like no matter what running back was in the game today, you guys were having success, whether inside zone, outside. Kind of just talk about the different successes that you were able to have with the run game and how you want to carry that into your next match-up with Texas Tech?<\/b> <\/p>\n
DAN LANNING: When you run the ball well, you have a chance to win games. You can stay on schedule and be able to take some of the shots that we take. Stay out of the chains, not force yourself to make some tough third downplays and we did that pretty effectively today. <\/p>\n
Q. Several of the red-shirting guys and injury guys coming back, your initial impressions of Dak and Gary and Makhi getting out there. I believe Gavin Nix also getting some runs, all the guys who came back from both health and red-shirting.<\/b> <\/p>\n
DAN LANNING: Yeah, I\u2019ll have to watch the film and sea how each guy did individually. I think, again, there were some positive moments but certainly moments for improvement. <\/p>\n
Q. Coach, you talked about the defense giving up some explosive plays but your offense had quite a few as well. Nine plays that went for 20 or more yards. What did you see JMU\u2019s defense that allowed you guys to create so much success attacking deep field?<\/b> <\/p>\n
DAN LANNING: They\u2019re an aggressive defense, so when you can get a hat on a hat, you\u2019re going to have opportunities for guys to go make big plays. I thought we did some good blocking on the perimeter which was necessary to create that. We didn\u2019t have really penalties in that area as well, which is important whenever you\u2019re going to be aggressive. <\/p>\n
But when they play aggressive and they\u2019re going to have a lot of hats, you\u2019re going to get opportunities for one-on-ones outside and you\u2019re going to get opportunities to create big plays. <\/p>\n
Q. Dan, are you glad you had this game, having now had a first round home game? Do you subscribe to the idea of the value of a tune-up maybe as opposed to the experience you guys had last year?<\/b> <\/p>\n
DAN LANNING: I\u2019m always glad to play football. It\u2019s exciting. You don\u2019t get a lot of opportunities to play football so certainly glad to have that opportunity. <\/p>\n
Q. In what ways did JMU\u2019s defense limit your explosive ways in the second half?<\/b> <\/p>\n
DAN LANNING: I just don\u2019t think we clicked on all cylinders, like I said. There were some moments we had success and a drive would stall out. But I\u2019ll have to go out and see specifically what they did differently. <\/p>\n
Q. Malik Benson, two touchdowns tonight. Elite speed. How would you describe him?<\/b> <\/p>\n
DAN LANNING: Yeah, Malik\u2019s showed up for us, certainly down the stretch this season, certainly great today. Obviously had some big balls that he caught and I\u2019ve been really proud of his progression and his growth for us in this program. <\/p>\n
Q. Haven\u2019t really addressed it too much but you guys are advancing, get an opportunity to play in a couple weeks. What do you think this team is ready to do?<\/b> <\/p>\n
DAN LANNING: Go work. Ready to go to work. <\/p>\n
Q. One of the better statistical days from Dante of his career. What have you seen over the last couple of weeks just as far as prep and his ability to meet the moment tonight?<\/b> <\/p>\n
DAN LANNING: Yeah, we have a great quarterback, right? And he can handle a lot of situations. He can handle pressure. I know there\u2019s a couple he\u2019d want back tonight but overall I thought he executed our plan well. <\/p>\n
Q. On the first couple drives in particular, it looked like they were throwing a lot in terms of scheme and formation, just a lot of variety. Anything that was either just a lot by volume or anything that Dean Kennedy did that you guys weren\u2019t expecting early on?<\/b> <\/p>\n
DAN LANNING: No, they do a lot. You go watch them throughout the season, they\u2019ve always had a lot of volume really on both sides of the ball. <\/p>\n
Q. A lot of batted passes at the line of scrimmage from the D-line tonight. How would you assess that group and how they\u2019ve thrown this year, a bit of what you saw from them against JMU.<\/b> <\/p>\n
DAN LANNING: That will be has a lower release. We thought that could make an impact and even when you\u2019re not necessarily making a sack, there\u2019s opportunities for plays like that. I thought our guys did a good job getting hands up. <\/p>\n
Q. I know the game didn\u2019t really end the way you wanted it to but I know Autzen Stadium really showed out. A lot of false starts on JMU\u2019s side. What would you say about the crowd and how the way the town rallied around this game and embraced a first-ever College Football Playoff game right here in Eugene.<\/b> <\/p>\n
DAN LANNING: Yeah, our crowd was outstanding. They\u2019ve been outstanding every time. We knew we could always count on those guys to show up and make it an unbelievable atmosphere. I think it\u2019s really special for our seniors to get to enjoy that and proud for them. <\/p>\n
Q. Seeing what the score is and how explosive your offense was, what gives you the confidence, though, that your team is going to take the criticism, take the coaching that you\u2019re clearly disappointed in this finish to progress next week and in two weeks?<\/b> <\/p>\n
DAN LANNING: Just because they have in the past. Our guys are about the right things when it comes to growth mindset. They\u2019re going to want to attack it and I know they share some of the same sentiments as me. <\/p>\n
Q. Seems like some of your team is echoing a lot of the stuff that you\u2019re saying, the disappointment in the second half. What does that say about the standard that you guys have set and how confident you are in them going forward?<\/b> <\/p>\n
DAN LANNING: Yeah, there\u2019s a standard here. There\u2019s certainly a standard for performance. Our players know that. They know what championship football looks like and the second half didn\u2019t look like that. <\/p>\n
Q. I know the competition\u2019s different, but did you take anything from last year\u2019s experience in the playoff that you used for this? I know the competition was different, but it\u2019s a win-or-go-home situation. Anything from last year that you used for this year?<\/b> <\/p>\n
DAN LANNING: Yeah, a lot of our prep was different this year. And, again, won\u2019t go into great detail with that but we did do some things differently. <\/p>\n
Q. Ahead of the season, the narrative surrounding this team was just young and unproven. Now there\u2019s been a full season of football and a lot of big games. How have you seen the freshmen and younger guys step up to the moment when it is a big game?<\/b> <\/p>\n
DAN LANNING: Yeah, some of those guys got some moments again today. We\u2019ve had some growth. We\u2019ve had strength in numbers all year where we\u2019re had a lot of guys who can play winning football. A lot of guys touched the field for us today. We started to roll some guys there in the second half. We\u2019ll have to go evaluate that film because obviously their performance wasn\u2019t as good there, so while there\u2019s been growth and there\u2019s opportunities to improve, there\u2019s still a lot of opportunities this front of us to continue to grow. <\/p>\n
Q. There was some personnel changes there in the third quarter. How do you plan on that or adjust in game on who to bring in and who to sit out after being up several scores?<\/b> <\/p>\n
DAN LANNING: Yeah, you just keep evaluating the game. We weren\u2019t playing well and we had to continue to put some other guys in. But ultimately, I think the game was at hand. It was just a matter of how do you finish and perform? That\u2019s some good experience for some guys that are in there to be able tyke advantage of. I just don\u2019t know that we took advantage of that today. <\/p>\n
Q. Any initial word on Theran?<\/b> <\/p>\n
DAN LANNING: I think he\u2019ll be okay. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EUGENE \u2014 No. 5 Oregon defeated No. 12 seed James Madison 51-34 Saturday night at Autzen Stadium. Dan…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":462185,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1359,46734,1428,210786,50916,9445,45126,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-462184","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-big-ten-football","9":"tag-cfp","10":"tag-college-football","11":"tag-college-football-playoffs","12":"tag-ducks-football","13":"tag-oregon-ducks","14":"tag-oregon-football","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115757612154655586","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}